Thread: Orange Co. Register: Immigration in the campaign

Immigration in the campaign
Most Republicans and Democrats running for the White House differ on the issue.
By DENA BUNIS
The Orange County Register
WASHINGTON – The demise of the comprehensive immigration bill in the Senate could well mean that immigration becomes an issue on the presidential campaign trail. Most of the Republican hopefuls were happy with what the Senate decided while most Democrats supported a comprehensive bill.

Among the GOP candidates, Sen. John McCain has acknowledged he has taken hits on the stump for his being one of the original architects of a bill that would have allowed an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to get on the path to citizenship.

The Democratic candidates all favor some form of legalization program as well as enhanced enforcement.

Here's a look at what the presidential candidates said about the failure of the Senate bill or about the immigration issue in general.

Republicans

Rudolph Giuliani: "(The Senate plan) was a compromise for the sake of compromising. No matter what side you're on, it made matters worse." Giuliani says he favors securing the borders by expanding the border fence, and installing cameras and infrared sensors to allow border agents to conicentrate on high-crossing areas. He wants tamper proof ID cards and a database for foreign-born residents. Only then would he consider a path to legalization for undocumented workers.

Mitt Romney:"The immigration bill failed because the politicians in Washington are out of touch with the American people. The voice of the people is loud and clear – secure the border, enforce the law and no special deal for permanent residency or citizenship for illegals."

John McCain:"It was a very tough and bruising experience and so I obviously regret we were unable to succeed, and I worry about the fact that we now have still the status quo." McCain, the co-author of last year's Senate bill, voted yes Thursday.

Sam Brownback: I voted against the Senate immigration bill because I am not convinced it would fix our broken immigration system and it would most likely repeat the mistakes of the 1986 reform." Brownback voted for last year's Senate bill. He first voted Thursday to let the bill move to a final vote and then changed his vote to no.

Tommy Thompson:"You can call it anything you want, but this compromise has the look and feel of amnesty."

Mike Huckabee:"While I appreciate the hard work of the Senate and the administration, this bill is not in the best interests of our national security, our citizens, and those who are patiently following the rules to become citizens."

Duncan Hunter:There should be "a very strong sense of urgency in this country to simply carry out the law, the mandate, for 854 miles of fence that we passed" in the 109th Congress.

Jim Gilmore:"We simply cannot afford to provide amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants while the American people struggle to make ends meet."

Tom Tancredo:"The loser isn't the American people in this. It was the President, of course, who tried to push this unholy alliance together and push a bill that no one wanted."

Ron Paul:"Good news from the U.S. Senate. The president's immigration bill went down in flames. Here we had a vastly expensive piece of legislation that would have made the immigration problem worse, and put more controls on the economy."

Democrats

Hillary Clinton:"We need comprehensive immigration reform, and I hope that we can find a solution that secures our borders, respects the rule of law, and honors both our history as a nation of immigrants and our basic values of respect and compassion." Clinton voted yesThursday.

Barack Obama: "By failing to pass a bill, we have done nothing to solve the problem of the more than 2,000 immigrants who cross our borders every day and the 12 million undocumented who are already here, nor have we addressed the very real concerns of American citizens who rightly believe we should protect our borders." Obama voted yes Thursday.

John Edwards:Edwards told the Des Moines he opposed the Senate bill because it didn't create a practical path to citizenship for immigrants. He said the bill created "a first-class group of citizens and a second-class group of laborers."

Bill Richardson:Richardson told the Houston Chronicle that the Senate bill was flawed because "it divides families," it includes a border "wall" between Mexico and the U.S., and the guest-worker program could be abused.

Joe Biden:Biden told the Wilmington News Journal that wanted to proceed on the issue, despite issues he had with the bill's temporary worker program and green card system he said "overemphasizes wealth and devalues family ties." Biden voted yes Thursday.

Chris Dodd:"With the bill's defeat, our nation is less secure, our immigration crisis will only fester and deepen, and we have reverted to a silent form of amnesty by doing absolutely nothing." Dodd voted yes Thursday.

Dennis Kucinich:"Those who have been here, who have paid their taxes and paid their dues and been part of our economy for the last decade need to have a chance to have a path to citizenship."

The comments were compiled by Register reporter Kathrine Schmidt from candidate statements, interviews, campaign web sites and wire service reports.

Contact the writer: (202) 628-6381 or dbunis@ocregister.com

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The Dems are absolutely PANDERING. They are going to have a really rough time with this since over 50% of dems were OPPOSED to the bill. I don't know a single dem that was for that sham.

What are they going to tell over half their voters????? I know of one man who has switched to Rep from Dem just over this stance. They may be surprised just how OUT OF TOUCH they are with their own voters!!

I switched myself. I had always been a Dem who keep himself UNIFORMED, but after carefully looking at the Dems platform, I knew it had been hijacked by the far left. Since immigration is the SECOND most important issue in the minds of the people, they are going to have a tough time justifying their stance!

All the other issues don't matter if the Nation becomes balkanized and we are no longer cohesive. We MUST perserve our culture and fight multiculturism or it will be the death of our country. Just say NO to being PC!

I will change my voter registration to Independent I am honestly FED UP with both parties.

My biggest complaint is,when canidates run for office Big Money & Big Business moves in wooing them....they can't seem to resist...We are in danger of loosing our Democracy because of it.

Bill Moyer on PBS said Rupert Murdock has single handedly HighJacked our First amendment and I can see he is right.He also said Rupert is the politicians best friend...he makes them rich if they do his bidding....and sadly they do....

Few seem to care about us...It is a sad day when our senators call us Bigots & Racist....I will not forget!